{Happy Father's Day}

David is as crazy in love with our furry babies as I am. (Although he thinks its it's totally

annoying when I call them "our babies".) I appreciate the way he cares for them so much.

In fact, it seriously might be one of his most charming qualities. So, I wanted to help him

celebrate his kids, the awesome relationship they have and preserve a few memories.

This is what I came up with ...



The video quality from the Flip is a little different then the cameras I'm used to using

from ASU. :) But I was still thrilled with how it turned out, and it fed my soul to do

some editing.

****************************************

Of course, we're thinking of Art and Jim today. David is lucky enough to have two dads,

and he's sweet enough to share them with me. Also, special Father's Day wishes to my

brother, Aaron, and his brother, Brian, who are both totally dedicated and amazing dads.

And no less important, happiest birthday wishes to Jennifer Jones and Jennifer Truman!

My two Jens -- my dearest, oldest friends. I love you, girls! I hope neither of you have to

share too much of your special day with boys.

{From Foster Family to Forever Family}

Talk about touching. I cried more than once while filming this story.

The writing just flowed when I sat down to do my script. It turned out to be

one of my very favorite packages.

I had a emotionally gripping, tear-filled interview with Mr. and Mrs. Nicholes that I

couldn't use because I didn't have my audio levels set right. Talk about a learning

experience! Always use headphones and do a sounds check. Fortunately, I had

enough to work with and alls well that ends well. I hope you enjoyed watching it.

{Putting Her Best Foot Forward}

Catch this. It's a pretty cool story.

A friend of a friend of a friend got a few cases of wine given to her for a charitable cause.
She used them for said cause but had one case of wine left over. Being the good person she
is, she wanted to use that wine to pay it forward. So, she and some friends (including Kim

Baldwin) came up with an idea ...

... to use the case of wine to host a wine and hors d'oeuvres fundraiser in honor of Martha

Kuhn. Martha is preparing to walk in her fourth Susan G. Koman Breast Cancer 3-Day

Walk for the Cure. Each year, Martha raises $2,300 and then walks 60 miles in three

days to help battle breast cancer. Her friends decided they would help her get an early

jump on her fund raising in 2010.

They asked for a donation of $25 from each person in attendance. They also held a

raffle in which people and local business donated items. Guests could buy three

tickets for $10 and put their raffle tickets in front of items they wanted to enter to win.

I offered to make a slideshow for the event. Martha provided me with some great photos

and some of the music I used. I was so pleased with how it turned out!

They held the event on Saturday night (the 20th). Martha raised $1,100!

I thought this was an awesome example of what being a good human being is all about!

- Martha for her dedication to fund raising and walking in the 3-Day year after year.

- Kim and her friends for paying it forward and helping Martha.

- People who don't even know each other coming together for a good cause.

- The generous spirit of a few can making a big difference.

It's just all good stuff.

{It Put Arizona on the Energy Map}

I love getting out of the valley to cover stories. Selfishly, I enjoy the mini road trip that takes

me into Arizona's big, beautiful, wide open spaces. But it's also a really great opportunity to

share something with people they probably wouldn't otherwise get a chance to see.

Just before Thanksgiving, I went out to the first wind farm in our state. I got to talk to Bill

Elkins -- who was the mastermind of the project -- and see the wind turbines in action.

CORRECTION: The title here says it's the Snowflake Wind Farm. The wind farm is actually

between Heber and Holbrook in Arizona.

Here's a few details I didn't have a chance to include in my story:

* Background: Bill is a fifth generation cattle rancher. He first came up with the idea of

putting a wind farm on his property after seeing them in the midwest where the topography

was similar to his land. They started doing research, connected with NAU to get some information, bought their own testing equipment, and started receiving certified data. With

that data, they could then start testing to see if they had viable wind. They did this data collection 24/7 for several years.

* Timeline: It took over seven years for this wind farm to go from idea to reality. Bill says

there were several times they didn't think it was going to happen, and he's still amazed that

it did. The actual building phase of the wind farm -- about a half a year. It was a clean, fast process. Bill says they actually left Rocking Horse Ranch in great condition afterwards. They built roads that were even better then the originals, and they reseeded the ground right up

to the edge of the roads and bases of the towers.

* Finances: The total project cost $100 million. Bill declined to say what he sold the project

for. He did mention they recouped all the money from their original investment, and they

have long term contract in place.

* Firsts: There are 30 turbines in all. That's the first phase of the project. Ten are on Bill's

land. Ten are on state land. And the final ten are on land that belongs to Bureau of Land Management. They didn't need the BLM and state land to do the project, but they decided

to see if they could make it happen. Now, Arizona is the first state in the country to have a portion of a wind farm built on it.

* Wind speeds: I mentioned the turbines can start generating power with winds as low as

eight mph. They have to shut down if winds exceed 65 mph. When the winds get high, the

blades feather out first -- like the wings on an airplane. If that doesn't slow the blades down enough, they'll shut down until the wind slows. That's a safety measure because the long

blades could smack into the tower if blown too hard. Bill says people don't realize it, but they'll get winds of 100 mph out there from time to time.

* Interest: The grand opening drew double the number of people they were expecting. In attendance -- Secretary of the Interior, Salazar. People often come out to tour the wind farm.

* Cattle: We asked if the cattle seemed to mind the changes on their land. Bills says the

cattle don't even notice it. The actual turbines have such a small footprint on the ground.

At most, he says he's seen a cattle come over to one and stand in the shade it creates, but

that's about it.

* Sound: You can hear a little sound come from them when they first start turning. But once they get going, they're very quiet. Bill says when they're really moving in the wind, the sound reminds him of being about a half a mile away from the ocean -- a calming, peaceful, quiet wash.

I think that's it. Hope you enjoyed the show!

{Motorcycle Gang Arrests, LIVE from Kingman}

My last day of reporting at NewsWatch ...

(I'm going out of order here as far as posting stories.)

I'm kind of floundering trying to come up with a good, one day turn ...

Calling to do a story on this guy who legally changed his name to Santa Claus ...

Mark walks up to me and says I need to be in Kingman for a 2PM presser.

Well, okay!

The best part ... we were going to go live from Kingman. We have the capability to go live

around the outside of our building, but we don't have a live truck. So, the only way to go live from location is via ichat (which is essentially Skype). I hadn't done it before, and neither had Mike, who went out there with me. So, we were both excited for a new experience. We flew to Kingman and made it there just in time. We shot the press conference, finishing up at 3PM.

We then had two hours before we were going live with the top story on the 5PM newscast.

The idea was to write a script and then upload and edit the video. Since I wasn't in the

newsroom where I could cut my voice track, I was going to do a live reader over the video.

None of us (Mike, me or the people in the newsroom) had ever tried to send cut video files

(FTPs) before. So, I wrote the script. Mike edited the video ...

And we couldn't figure out how to send it.

Time for a new plan.

The station got video and stills from the police that they edited together for video. Melanie

(the producer) and I talked over the phone to rewrite the script to fit the visuals they had.

Meanwhile, Mike worked to set up ichat but was having troubles getting a strong enough Internet connection. So, at 4:30PM we left the police station parking lot in search of a Starbucks

that I'm still convinced does not exist. We pulled into this mom and pop motel and begged

the owner to let us hook up to hers. She was in!

We were the top story of a 5PM newscast. At 4:45PM, we still didn't have the ichat up.

I called the special line and got ready to do a phoner. I was doing this from the parking

lot next door in order to get a phone signal. Mike was around the corner and out of my

sight. So, we ran back and forth a few times. Crazy!

They bumped us into the second block of the newscast to give us more time to figure out the ichat, and it worked. Mike was able to connect to it. (Cue singing angels.) I literally ran to the camera with ten seconds to spare before going LIVE!

It was insane. Mike and I were pumped full of adrenaline afterwards. His hands were shaking,

my heart was racing.

I was a little disappointed when I watched it back. I stumbled a couple times, my hair was a mess, that deep breath before the video started was not supposed to have been on camera, etc.

But it was still the most exciting day in reporting I've experienced yet, and I learned a lot from it. So ultimately, I wouldn't change a think about it.

*******************

"Better to do something imperfectly than to do nothing flawlessly." -Robert Schuller

{Advancements in Cancer Research}

I'm back with more stories! I still have five video packages to share from last semester.

They're each about two minutes long. I hope you get a chance to watch them all!

I was really proud of how this one turned out. The idea was to do a story on some of the

cutting edge research being done in an effort to find a cure for cancer. When I started

looking to see who was doing what, I was overwhelmed with all the amazing ideas, tests

and experiments being done right here in the Phoenix area. They're doing some really

cool stuff to come up with that one idea that will save untold lives. Of course, in two

minutes, you can only feature a couple of them.

The real challenge was distilling all the technical information they gave me into a format

that was easy to listen to and simple enough to digest in a few sentences. It was fun!

I hope you enjoy this package ...



I met Lisa at a breast cancer awareness 5K earlier in the year. It was really nice of her to make time for this interview. She agreed to meet me in between volunteering for Habitat, helping a friend pack and doing yard work for her grandmother. Lisa lost her grandfather to cancer about two weeks after this interview was filmed.

{News Maker}

I feel so fortunate to have been a part of NewsWatch and Cronkite News Service (which I

did in the second half of the semester). Combined, they were by far the best experience I

had during my time at ASU.

I've talked about my shoots, and I've shared several packages. (I have five more that I still

want to post.) However, I haven't written much about the program itself -- something I've

been meaning to do since I started the program in the fall.

In those programs, you are a full fledged member of the media. We produced four newscasts a week that aired on television, working from a fully functioning news studio. Everything is completely state of the art. The equipment and resources are just amazing. There's also a support staff that's filled beyond the brim with talent, skill, knowledge, and patience.

As students, we can't be there full time, but they want us to experience a full day in a

newsroom. So, your "class" is from at least 8:30AM to 6PM -- two to four days a week.

I did two full days. Of course, you end up staying late or doing your shooting and editing on

off days, too. It's a decent time commitment, but once you're into it, you just want to be there. It's addictive.

My focus in NewsWatch and CNS was as a reporter. So, my thing was to come up with story ideas, pursue them and turn them into packages for air. But a bunch of reporters does not a newsroom make.

We had a staffed assignment desk, producers, directors, production (technical people). Then, there were also the four main professors -- all of which had full careers as practicing journalists before coming to ASU -- that were amazing to learn from and work with. Finally, there were at least a half a dozen other people there for support. One of the local evening news anchors, for example, would come in weekly to do script and package approvals and help out where he could. Another guy was there to work with the sports reporters on stuff they produced for Fox Sports Network. Plus, we had access to the amazing Brian Snyder who is the broadcast wizard for the building. Every person there brought talent and know how to the newsroom, creating ample opportunities to learn.

The day began with everyone checking on the latest developments in the news -- the wires and social media -- and we'd make calls, set up interviews, check out cameras, etc. The morning editorial meetings started at 9AM and lasted about an hour. That's where we'd pitch story ideas and solidify the assignment for the day. Sue and Mark (our news directors) would say if the idea was a go or not and make sure we had a newsworthy and timely direction to pursue. From there, we were off to cover things and make packages. The producers started putting together the rundown for that nights newscast.

Now for some pictures:


This is the newsroom. Editing bays are along the wall to the right. The assignment desk

is in the far back under the TVs. Outside the windows to the left is a terrace overlooking downtown for live shots. All the rest -- desks and computers.

Video must be imported and edited once it's been shot.

Everything is done on a MAC and edited with Final Cut Pro.

If you click on that second picture, you can see all those little boxes on the

screen. Each one on the top row is a different shot. The two layers below it

are corresponding audio.

Studio cameras. Notice the green wall in the first photo. That's primarily for weather.

This is the studio. Nice, right?! So, that's the set, anchor desk and three studio cameras.



This is the anchor desk. I wasn't the regular anchor. I did two small segments called

the AZ TV Cut-in though, and it was a fun experience. This was just a practice day.

The studio from the anchors perspective.

And a better look at those cameras. The prompter for the anchors would

be above the clock and video of what's airing shows on the bottom.

There's always a floor director during the newscast that tells the talent

what camera is live and relays information from the director.

This is the control room. From here, they do everything! That means they do the audio,

watch all the cameras, do graphics, pull up all the video they're using that night, run the prompter. Essentially, they do the newscast here.

The control room has a view to the set.

A producer puts together a rundown. That includes what will be on the show in what order

and how much time will be dedicated to each part. A director (pictured here) makes it happen.

Directors have a lot to keep tabs on. They have to give orders on everything that

goes on air and make sure everyone else in the studio knows what's coming up next.

I think that pretty much wraps it up! Hope you enjoyed the tour. :)

{Vice President Biden Comes to Phoenix}

And I was there. Which, I've got to say, was a pretty special experience.

This story turned out okay. I was excited to cover it, but I would have liked

to tweak my output more. It was originally about 30 seconds longer and

included some pretty cool info towards the end, but that got cut to fit slot.

The info I didn't include (in a very short recap):

There was a guy on the panel who got a large chunk of stimulus money that he then had

to match on his own. He is using it to develop an electric car and charging stations. The

stations will launch first. The idea being, people aren't going buy the car if there isn't a

practical way to use them. Of course, people can charge the cars at home, but if you're

on the road, you'll need to recharge. So, they'll start with five stations in five cities --

Tucson, Phoenix, Seattle, Portland, and somewhere in Tennessee, I think. (I don't have

my notes with me right now.) The expanded plan is to also have charging available

where people gather and remain for periods of time ... like at sporting events, shopping

centers, etc. If I remember correctly, they're looking to launch the stations as soon as

the summer of 2010. Anyway, interesting stuff.

Last day of school today!! The last day of my last semester!! French final tonight. Company arriving tomorrow. Still have TON to do, and I shouldn't do any of it so I have time to study.
But that's not gonna happen. :)

Hope you're all having a happy Friday!

{Will They Strike?}

Two of the big grocery store chains in the valley are Fry's and Safeway. They were

locked in contract negotiations for many months with The United Food and Commercial

Workers Local 99. Things were getting heated as they came down to the final deadline --

just a week or two before Thanksgiving.

Some of the workers wanted to strike (which the Union was in support of). Others didn't,

saying they wanted to work and take the fair deal their employers were offering.

I covered the developing story and a protest against the strike in downtown Phoenix.

As far as what the experience was like for me:

* This was a day turn, which was great practice for me! I shot, wrote and edited it on a

Monday. I also cut a VO-SOT (video and a sound bit read by the anchor) for the AZ-TV

Cut In -- another segment we produce.

* The story aired on Tuesday (because we don't do a show on Monday). I was able to do a

look live tag (which we prerecorded because I had class during the newscast on the day it

aired).

* It was breaking news and a developing local story. So, all the other stations were there

covering it. I showed up just in time for the union to do a press conference inside. We all

crammed into a small entry area upstairs at union headquarters to get their comments.

I didn't end up including that in the story but vying for a good spot in the presser and
hearing the questions asked after is always good experience.



The two sides came to an 11th hour agreement and the strike was avoided.

{Shooting}

I have come to love shooting video and editing it. I think those are the two things I'll miss

most once I graduate. It's just so much fun; I get a lot out of it. But you need a camera (etc)

and final cut pro for editing for that. So, I'll just have to let my job search guide me back to it.

It's been kind of cool to get a few photos of myself at shoots. I'm glad I have them.

This first set were taken in October by Officer Roy Dunkelbarger with the Mesa Police Department. He was taking some for the station and sent these my way, which I thought

was very nice of him. (Click here to see the story from this shoot.)

And here I am more recently at the first wind farm in Arizona (between Heber and Holbrook). These were taken by Rebeka Parsons, who was nice enough to give up her day to go out there with me. We weren't actually shooting when we took these. But since we were waiting for Bill Elkins, mastermind of the wind farm, we took the opportunity to snap a couple.

I hope you all had a nice long weekend. We have a ridiculously busy two weeks ahead.

David has work, work travel, running to train for his races, and an at home bathroom

remodel to knock out. (I don't envy his schedule.) My last day at ASU is on Friday,

December 11th. I have a ton to do before that last final at 7-9PM. Not to mention,

getting ready for Christmas, company, graduation, and helping with the bathroom.

It's gonna be an interesting two weeks!

Time to get after it...

{Let's Hit the Road}

Time for another dose of news, Samara style. :)

This time, you'll see anchor, Kristin Keogh introducing me and the story I covered on

potential cuts within the Arizona Department of Transportation.

I had an opportunity to do another live shot -- this time, down on the street, outside

our building. Two other quick things about this story --

* Unfortunately I signed out -- "In Phoenix. Samara Link. Cronkite News." both in
my package and from my live shot. The package shouldn't have included that. It was

a technical gliche -- that I now know how to work around. Basically, you have to click "overwrite" when resending a package to the rundown so it knows to let the new

story replace what was there. At least I know now.

* I drove an hour from downtown -- each way -- just to go that rest area and get
one quick sound bite and three or four shots. Whatever it takes, baby! I think it
added a little something to the story and was well worth it.

{Nutrition Assistance}

Story time!

This is a package I did recently on Nutrition Assistance. That's the new name for what

used to be called Food Stamps. This one was fun for me -- I produced a segment in the

show. Something new instead of just making a package that they insert into the newscast.

* It kicked off with what we call a VO-SOT. That's when an anchor -- in this case, Samantha Boatman -- reads a script while the viewer sees video (VO). That's followed by sound on

tape (SOT or a sound bite) of a person commenting on the topic.

* Then, the anchor appears again to tag the VO-SOT and intro the package.

* I started and ended the package with a LIVE shot in the newsroom.

I really enjoyed this one. Hope you do, too. :)

{Inside Look at the PD}

Some Mesa residents have hit the books, but they aren't doing it for the grade...

{A Day at the Races}

I had so much fun doing this story! It was dynamic and visually rich with a ton of

good nat sound just waiting to be captured. I got some good video! And that always

makes for good TV.

Cool part from filming --

The starting gates were around the far side of the track and could not be seen from

the gallery and finish line. I asked if I could go over there to get a shot of the horse

coming out of the gates, and they were happy to help. They had me jump on the back

of a truck with the handlers and the videographer from the track. I set up my camera

and got one shot as the horses blew through the gates. They move so fast, there is only

time for one! So, we'd jump back in the truck to ride around to the finish. When the next

race started 20 minutes later, I rode to the starting gates for a second shot (so I could

edit a sequence together).

You get to go to and do some pretty cool things when you have a camera in your

hand. I love that part of this business!

The owners of the horse track are hoping to get the go ahead to build a recino --

that's a racing casino -- soon. It's up to legislators to decide if they get it. But the

track has offered Arizona 45% of the profits. They say that's much higher then the

1-8% they get from most casinos. Track owners say it's an offer the state should

consider as part of their solution to the current budget crisis.

****************************

UPDATE: Evelyn remade this story in Spanish to go into Spanish newscast they do

every other week. She did a great job, and I was happy my footage get some extra

mileage! CLICK HERE to see her version.

{Property Tax Bill Translation}

Story time! Hope you enjoy...

Just a note about this one. It actually turned out pretty well considering it was

done on the exciting topic of taxes. I found a man who was passionate about taxes,

and the video I got of him added a lot to the story. Plus, some of you may recognize

the relater, the beautiful Diane Baldo. She's Lindsay's mom. She was wonderful! As

a property owner, I actually learned a lot that I'm happy to know, by putting this

package together. I now know why my tax bill won't be going down this year even

though my home value has dropped a whopping 30%/. And I know what my options

are to appeal when the time comes. Hope you learn something, too!

Have a good weekend, all. :)

{Stapley Arrest}

This package is introduced by anchor David Gonzalez...



There have been developments in this story since I originally put this package together,

but I haven't researched them myself to do a follow up story. So, I won't comment on

them here.

I learned a lot about "the process" doing this story, and it meant a few firsts for me.

First breaking news story. First time at the 4th Avenue Jail for an Initial Appearance

hearing. First time recording an intro and tag on the green screen. It was a fun turn,

in which I learned a lot. Something else for my resume tape!

{Best Buddies, part 2}

I mentioned this program in a recent post -- it's the one where they pair students

who have disabilities with students who don't.

Here's the story I put together thanks to the help and participation of Houston,

Brady, Houston's parents, Matt, & Sunni.

Last night I shot the annual Best Buddies Arizona fundraiser so we could air a

follow up story on it. It was a pretty amazing event with a Hollywood theme.

Houston and Brady were honored with an award for best match from 08-09.

It was a whose who of Phoenix celebs. And founder Anthony Kennedy Shriver

was even in attendance. I was really glad I went!

{School Nurses}

This was a fun package to put together -- an interesting topic that people

shared passionately with me on when I was doing my research and interviews.

I mentioned before that I'm working on the quality of my standups. I was really

happy with this one -- definitely my best one so far, and I shot it myself. I was

also excited because this was my first package to air on TV.

**************

If you call the health office at your child's school -- and they answer the phone

with "nurses office" -- you'll probably assume there's a nurse there. But in

schools all over Arizona, that's not the case.

{Best Buddies}

Reporting is one of the coolest jobs ever. You get to meet all kinds

of people with interesting stories and different takes on life. And

you get to go places and learn things you'd miss out on otherwise.

I had a great time at a recent shoot (9/11). I was covering a

program called Best Buddies, and in doing so I got to meet some

terrific people at Higley High School.

Best Buddies is an international program where they pair

students who have disabilities with students who don't. The

idea is to create an opportunity for the pair of students to spend

time together -- one-on-one, in and outside of school -- to create

long lasting friendships. It's also a peer mentor program, allowing

the student with disabilities to further develop social skills and

expand their social network.

I got to know Brady and Houston -- two guys who were matched

up in Best Buddies last year and have since become friends. Their

story and the friendship they've built in the last year was inspiring.

Houston's parents came along to support him and document

what we were doing. I didn't know they were going to be there

until I arrived that morning. It worked out great because they

shared a few things with me that helped me understand the

story even better. It was really nice meeting both of them.

Julia, Houston's mom, sent me copies of the photos she took:

Interviewing Houston

Interviewing Brady and Houston


Getting b-roll footage of them studying together


Matt Stone, (special education teacher at Higley HS who runs

the Best Buddies Program there); Julia (Houston's mom),

Houston, Brady, me, and Sunni (the 09-10 Student President

for Best Buddies at Higley HS).

Brady, Houston and me after getting some shots outside.

I will post the story soon -- hopefully sometime in the next

week!

{Learning in Progress}

Time to share two stories I made last semester.

I'm excited about both of them! But...

Here's my disclaimer: My standups are pretty rough. :)

(That's the time when I'm on camera.) I'm not looking for

reassurance. I just don't want you to think that I think they're

good. I've now done a total of five standups -- all of which are

from last semester -- and they're all way, way too long.

But I figured I'd show you where I was last semester, in all

my amateur glory, so when I do much better stand ups in the

coming months, you'll be able to see progress. :)

Otherwise, I really hope you enjoy the stories themselves!

***********

Story 1 -- Stand up = Too long. Forgot what I was saying half

way through. The background didn't enhance the story, and I

look terrified. Lame-o. But the rest of the story is solid, I think.

I had some good sequencing and a strong central character that

made the piece work.

Story 2 -- Brace yourselves. For this one, we were required to

appear three times. We had to open and close the piece as if

we were live on location. Plus, we had to do a stand up in the

middle of the story. It was purely for practice. In the real world,

you don't show your face this many times in a two minutes story.

Not unless your Diane Sawyer. Either way, I still spoke for too

long every time I was on camera, but at least I felt much more

comfortable doing it!

Here's what I now know about stand ups:

- They should be 2, maybe 3, sentences long. That's it.

- Movement should be motivated. So, if you're going to

walk and talk, you should walk to something that you

want to show the viewer.

- It's good when they reveal something (visuals, facts or

conflict in the story) that are difficult to demonstrate with

video.

- They should inform and educate the viewer by adding to

the story -- not just be a way to get the reporter on air.

- The best ones act as a bridge or transition in the story.

- Multi-part stand ups are more interesting to watch. (Where

you say your couple of sentences but do so using more than

one shot.)